Winona Area Public Schools taxpayers: ‘drain the swamp’

(5/14/2018)

From: Col. Stan Gudmundson
USAF (ret.)

The shenanigans going on in the Winona Area Public Schools system appear to be virtually the same or very similar to what one Minnesota school district after another seems to have gone through. Typically, taxpayers get hosed and the district ends up with what the majority doesn’t want, and in most cases, doesn’t need. The new school in Rushford-Peterson is a case study in “legal” malfeasance and disregard for the wishes of taxpayers who must shoulder the district’s tax burden.

There is one issue that school boards and superintendents almost always raise: the subject of deferred maintenance. It raises a red flag and just irritates the dickens out of me even though I don’t have a dog in this particular fight.

The meaning of “deferred maintenance” is very simple. It really just means “incompetence.” Incompetence of school district management aided and abetted by School Board pansies who abrogate their responsibilities in ensuring that a school’s management is doing what it is supposed to be doing. It is not a reason to do anything other than fix what has to be fixed when it is supposed to be fixed. No excuses.

If you have ever heard or read of deferred maintenance, you can be certain that a district needs a completely different management team. And likely a new School Board as well.